Strictly Business 20 Years After a Landmark Disney-Apple Deal, Anne Sweeney Recalls Negotiating With Steve Jobs
Oct 10, 2025
Anne Sweeney, former co-chair of Disney Media Networks, reminisces about her pivotal role in the groundbreaking Disney-Apple deal that reshaped media. She discusses the industry's landscape in 2005, full of challenges and skepticism. Sweeney reveals insights from her initial discussions with Steve Jobs, his impactful demo, and the deal's complexities. She highlights how this partnership revolutionized consumer access to digital content, curbing piracy and paving the way for future tech collaborations, while also reflecting on lessons learned from negotiating with the visionary Jobs.
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Consumer Control Became Central
- Sweeney calls the Disney-Apple deal the moment everything changed because it fused creative content with consumer-facing technology.
- The deal shifted power to consumers who could now control when and where they watched media.
A Fragmented, Tethered Media Era
- The mid-2000s media landscape was highly fragmented with hundreds of cable channels and tethered viewing habits.
- Mobile devices and on-demand access were missing, leaving audiences bound to schedules and physical devices.
Seeing The Demo Changed Perspective
- Steve Jobs demoed a video iPod and the iTunes video store to Anne Sweeney on a MacBook, showing Lost playing flawlessly on a new device.
- Sweeney watched as a consumer and immediately saw travel and convenience value in carrying shows on that device.